Water management firm, STW Water Process and Technologies, has started to develop a newly acquired brackish water lease in the Imperial, Texas area. The move is part of STW’s West Texas Water Project to discover new brackish water sources.
The water source is a key component in the West Texas project that will use new sources to produce potable supplies for industry and municipalities. The first phase of the lease is scheduled for completion at the end of this year. It will include site excavation, a hydrogeological report, the acquisition of production and transportation permits and a long-term water purchase agreement.
The newly purchased lease has artesian brackish water flowing from the San Andres formation, which is approximately 600 metres below the surface. According to the Pecos County Water authorities, several of the eight water wells currently flowing have been producing 4-10 Ml/d for the past 40+ years. The water produced will be processed with STW’s proprietary Hybrid Brackish Reverse Osmosis System prior to sale to surrounding communities and industrial users. The estimated current water flows are more than 80 Ml/d.
The Company’s strategy involves adding other currently unusable brackish aquifers in Texas and California and throughout the southwestern United States to the company’s water lease portfolio.
STW has approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the site plans and the water treatment technology and processes that the company will be using.
STW’s hydrogeologists, have begun their study of the San Andres formation to estimate the water reserves. Their findings are required for the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District permitting process. STW has estimated that water sales to industrial customers will begin during the first quarter of 2016.The company said Phase II was expected to commence in January.
Phase II is estimated to take 12 months and the build-out another 14 months, starting commercial production operations for the entire West Texas Project in the second quarter of 2018.
STW chief executive officer, Stanley Weiner, said, “The number of wells being planned to drill will be dependent upon the amount of water that can be produced from each well. This threshold appears to be approximately 1-2.5 million GPD from each well based upon the existing flowing wells on the lease. Although the brackish water from these wells has been free flowing for many years and accumulating on the surface, this water can now be economically processed to potable specifications for municipal use with STW’s advanced technologies.”
Weiner emphasized, “We currently have nine solid water projects similar to this project in the state of California alone in our project pipeline with a number of additional projects being qualified.